The blog contains articles by the author which appear in various newspapers in Kashmir and are also available on the website: www.kashmirfirst.com

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Is anything straight in Kashmir?

(If
one examines various aspects of life in Kashmir, a question comes up whether
anything works in a straight way here?)

There
is an Arab saying about the Camel. It goes like this, “O, Camel which of your
parts is straight?” The saying fits perfectly the life in Kashmir during the
present times. Nothing seems to work here in a normal straight way. In the
shivering winter let us begin with the Electric Power which has been playing
hide and seek. It is a tragedy of our times that in spite of having the highest
potential for generation of hydro-electric power we are totally deficient in
it. Not only could we be running everything on power but would have been
exporting it to neighbouring countries and earning huge revenue. On the
contrary we have to buy back the power generated from our own rivers! Can there
be anything more pathetic and cruel than this? Who is responsible for this? Our
own so called leaders who for their own self-interests mortgaged everything
including their souls! Nobody even raised a voice when the waters belonging
primarily to us were divided between our two neighbouring countries by the
World Bank! If one considers the revenue being generated by these power
projects, we should be getting free power for at least 100 years as
compensation!

After
generation let us come to transmission and distribution. We are supposed to
have the highest transmission losses anywhere in the world! Regarding
distribution, the less said, the better. It is a perfect lesson for how things
should not be done. In downtown area of Srinagar the domestic connections from
a pole are a puzzle. Only the lineman can say which wires go to which house? It
is so dangerous and hazardous that one wonders why we do not have continuous
fires and electrocutions! In fact, after seeing these jumbled up connections
and being told that there are no electrocutions, a power engineer from a
Communist country remarked that he had started believing in God! Will we be
ever able to straighten and streamline our transmission and distribution system?
At least not in our lifetime!

Now
let us take the consumer side. People want to consume the energy for all their
needs but do not want to pay for the actual energy consumed. This is known as
the “Power Theft” which must be unique to Kashmir. It is alleged that some
people have dual connections. One is normal through the meter and the other is
a couple of connecting wires which they hook on during the night! In addition,
a large number of people just hook on and do not pay at all. A number of well
to do people including some officials of the Power Department have allegedly
been caught for the “Power Theft”! Would it not be better to levy a reasonable
power tax on every citizen whether he uses it or not? This may generate more
revenue than already earned by the Power Development Department!

Traffic
is another big mess! Firstly, the drivers get their licences without having any
knowledge about the basic traffic rules. The licensing is another lucrative
business. Then there is no control on the number of vehicles which can go on
the roads. Kashmir valley is supposed to have more than a million and Srinagar
alone almost a quarter million! It is reported that in forties we had not more
than 45 vehicles and now more than a million. There has not been equal
expansion and growth of the roads. Interestingly, the existing roads have
heaved a sigh of relief during the continuous shut downs. To manage the
movement of these vehicles we have very few traffic policemen. On the contrary,
we have battalions upon battalions of Armed Police to keep people in check if
they start moving on foot on the roads asking for their rights!

If
one goes on, there is no part of the society whether a government department,
civic facility, or even private organisations and concerns which run straight.
One cannot put the entire blame on the government and other organisations only.
After all who is running all these organisations? We, the people from this very
land! The reason for deviation is the absence of truth and honesty. These seem
to have been banished from Kashmir! Many foreign explorers, authors and others
who have visited Kashmir in the past have remarked about these two missing
qualities. However, many have put the blame on the foreign rulers who have been
ruling over us for last four centuries or so in the most ruthless manner. Every
drop of honesty had been drained out from our blood!

However,
there was a beginning in changing the centuries old slave mentality. That
happened when a movement for emancipation started in Kashmir in recent times. Normally,
once extremely suppressed people get some sort of a break and start getting
material things which they could never imagine, they are bound to lose their
balance and fail to perceive the difference between the right and the wrong. However,
once a person realizes that only the material well-being is not the end of life
that signals the beginning of a revolution. This has happened during the
present uprising. People have realized that all the material goodies do not
necessarily guarantee a life of dignity and honour which we have been longing
for centuries. A voluntary shutdown by all sections of the society for more
than five months is not a small achievement. This step has served its purpose
very well. It has amply demonstrated the will and the resolve of the people. The
message has gone all over and now there is need to straighten all the deviant
parts to bring in real honesty and truth! This may be the only thing straight
in Kashmir at the present moment and all concerned need to take note of the
same!